


no notion of loving by halves

by SebGray



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Regency, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst, Arranged Marriage, Backstory, Dream Sex, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Masturbation, Miscommunication, Past Character Death, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-16 22:09:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SebGray/pseuds/SebGray
Summary: Jester Lavorre had had other suitors, but none so kind as Caleb Ermendrud. Meanwhile, Caleb has never met someone with as much spirit and sweetness as the beautiful Jester Lavorre. But Caleb is inexperienced, and Jester is impatient, and both have to work together to make this marriage work.





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note: a content warning for Caleb describing his parents' death. It isn't super detailed, but it's still there.

Jester met Archduke Caleb of Dwendali once before she was married to him. Her mama had been talking to other nobles in countries all over Exandria -- from Sir Fjord Tusktooth of Port Damali to Duke Mollymauk Tealeaf of Xhorhaus to Lady Beauregard Lionett of Dwendali. Most of their discussions had been about politics, appearances, heirs, their families and associates, et cetera. While Jester had met and was friends with all of them, her mother was never completely satisfied with them. Fjord had ties to an unknown and rather concerning master, Mollymauk had his memory problems and ties to a mysterious cult, and Beauregard’s family was far too conservative for a Nicodranian like her daughter to be able to stand.

But she liked Caleb.

She talked about him a lot on the carriage ride there. He was very wealthy for his rank, thanks to good financial decisions and a keen head for business. He owned land and various businesses in and around Rexxentrum and Zadash, as well as all sorts of properties in the countryside. He was kind, polite, had no ill reputations or unfortunate ties, and was well known amongst the higher echelons of the Dwendalian Empire.

“What about his family? Are they nice?” Jester asked.

Marion frowned. “He has no family. He was an only child, and his parents passed away in a fire when he was sixteen.”

“Oh.” Jester looked down, a bit sorry she had asked. 

“Yes. He seemed very sad about it, so I did not ask for any more details.”

Jester nodded, understanding. “Okay. What else? Is he handsome?”

After a brief pause, Marion said, “In a scruffy sort of way. He cleaned up well enough when I met him, but I could tell there were some things he didn’t always pay attention to. His clothing was out of style and drab, even by Dwendalian standards. It was also somewhat worn and ill-fitting. It looked like he had them for a while, and that he lost quite a bit of weight since he had gotten them. Speaking of, he is very thin, almost worryingly so. I talked to his housekeeper a bit, Veth. She said she is often worried about him, and that he doesn’t take care of himself enough. But underneath all that was potential. He wasn’t bad looking, that’s for sure, and he’d look very handsome if he was better taken care of.” Marion raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

“Oh, stop, Mom,” joked Jester, rolling her eyes and playing coy.

Marion smiled, then cleared her throat and returned to her serious tone. “Another concern I had was the age difference. He is the oldest suitor I’ve spoken to so far.”

“How old is he?” Jester looked up and furrowed her brow in concern.

“He is thirty-three years old.”

“Oh. I mean...that’s not too bad, it’s barely older than Fjord! I was thinking you were going to say he was like, forty or something.”

“Not. You know the standards I have set for your suitors. I would never let anyone that old marry you. I just wanted to check in that it wouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“Yes, Mama.” Jester nodded. “So, what else is he like?”

“He is...shy, to say the least. Conservative, but not in a bigoted way. Just...he got very flustered when I mentioned the two of you having sex. He turned bright red and could barely get a word out. He didn’t seem to have a lot of experience, at least, from what he told me. Caleb said he had two very brief relationships when he was much younger, and I doubt they went that far. Both people involved are now either married or not attracted to men, so I doubt he’ll be tempted to do anything out of line with them. Also...he mentioned he’s transgender.”

“Really?” Jester sat up, a little intrigued. Other than Molly and Beau and a handful of acquaintances from Nicodranas, she hadn’t met that many people who weren’t cisgender.

“Yes. He told me his old name, which I shall not repeat without his permission, and explained to me that he began transitioning at the age of twenty, once he realized his true gender. He also said he True Polymorphed himself to be the appearance he is now when he turned thirty.”

“He was able to do that?” Jester’s eyes widened. She was no expert in magic, but she knew True Polymorph was a high-level spell.

“Yes. He is a very powerful wizard. He focuses a great deal on his studies, which was another thing that concerned me. However, he did promise he’d put his future spouse first above all.”

“Good. I’m very glad to hear that.” Jester giggled a little, squirming a bit, now excited to meet her potential match.

After several hours of discussion about the various factors of the potential gains of the relationship -- his title, his wealth, his various estates, et cetera -- they neared his primary home, where he resided when he wasn’t called to his businesses. It wasn’t far from Rexxentrum, in the heart of the Zemni Fields, near a small town that they would have to pass through to get there. According to Marion, the town was named Blumenthal, and Caleb’s parents had lived there. It had been much poorer in previous decades, but Caleb had helped a lot to better develop it. It was still only a modest town now, mostly farmland, small stores, a smithy, a tanning shop, and an inn and tavern that seemed to be the busiest place in the area. The people walking along the road all stopped and stared and gossiped amongst themselves about the fine Nicodranian carriage passing through. Jester leaned out the window, waving to the people with a smile. Most of the adults responded with awkward waves or perhaps a tip of the hat or a modest bow. Many of the children smiled and waved back with enthusiasm, pulling at the clothes of their parents and asking who the nice blue lady was. Jester was out of earshot by the time anyone responded, but she could tell by their body language that the responses were, at the very least, not obviously negative.

They moved out of the town and into farmland again. There were a lot of people toiling over the ground. It was spring, and the ground had thawed, meaning that it was time to plant. Jester smiled and waved at everyone, not sticking out of the window this time. The farmers seemed friendly, if very preoccupied. And then finally they approached the Ermendrud Manor. It was bigger than any of the other mansions Jester had ever seen (even the Lionetts’, though they’d never admit it). The building was remarkably taken care of, covered with neat roses and surrounded by a lovely looking garden with almost every flower imaginable, as well as some Jester had never seen before. A few attendants opened the gates and the carriage passed through to the cobblestone drive that led to the manor. Up ahead, there was a line of people, all standing straight. Most of them seemed to be servants, all dressed in neat uniforms, but the one at the end was different. He seemed somewhat tall, certainly taller than Jester, and had red hair and a beard. He wore a brown outfit and tall boots. “Is that Caleb?” Jester asked, trying not to obviously poke her head out.

“Yes, it is.”

They pulled up to the mansion and a butler opened the door to let the two out. The servants and Caleb all bowed to Marion and Jester. Now that Jester could get a good look at him, she could feel a slight blush rise to her cheeks. Fjord, Molly, and Beau were all very attractive, and objectively she wouldn’t rank Caleb above them, but there was something...different about him. A soft inherent kindness she hadn’t expected. An odd connection she couldn’t quite place. It brought up this strange bubbly feeling in her stomach that made her get all giddy. She grinned widely.

Caleb seemed genuinely happy to see them, like he was excited about the potential match. Then he cleared his throat, hid his smile, and said, “Hallo, it is a pleasure to see you again, Duchess Marion Lavorre.” He had an accent! It wasn't heavy but it was very clearly Zemnian. His voice was gentle and kind and polite, but quiet. “And it is lovely to finally meet you, Lady Jester Lavorre. Your mother has spoken a lot about you.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, too!” Jester said with a grin as she curtsied, perhaps a bit lower than she needed to. Her dress was very low cut for Dwendali, she knew, her shoulders were uncovered, and the sleeves poofed out around her upper arms but did not go further. Plus, the fabric was very light and thin, not enough to show anything but certainly more than he was probably used to, and she wasn't wearing stockings, as people from her country never did in between winter and autumn. When she looked up, Caleb’s face was almost as red as his hair. She giggled slightly. “What, Mister Caleb, am I shocking you?”

Caleb tried to stammer something out, but Marion gave her a slight nudge and a look that said, “Now, now, don’t torture the man.” Then she turned to Caleb and said, “Shall we go inside?”

“Ja, we shall,” Caleb said. Two butlers opened the doors, and Caleb led them inside. It was neat and pretty, but very Dwendalian. The walls were wallpapered light pastel colors and were mostly bare aside from the art, all big framed portraits of strange humans she didn’t recognize. It wasn't ugly, not like the Lionetts' manor, which was dark and cold and oppressive, more like a prison than a home. But it was far from the warm colors, patterned curtains and tapestries, and huge windows of her home in Nicodranas. Caleb brought them to a sitting room, where tea was prepared. The food was Dwendalian, neat cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off and bland-looking cookies shaped like seashells, but when Jester looked at the tea, she smiled. It was rooibos tea, clearly, the kind Mama always served. He must've gotten it just for them.

After a few sips of tea, Marion asked, "So, Caleb. Jester and I talked about what you told me last time I was here. Do you have anything to add?"

"Uh, well." Caleb fiddled with his cup of tea. "I inherited the title of Archduke from my parents, who inherited it from a benefactor they were close to, Archduke Haselberger. My mother was like a daughter to him, and he had died unmarried and childless, so they inherited everything. Before, they were very poor. My mother was Archduke Haselberger’s maid, and my father was a farmer who worked some of the lands he owned. The Archduke led my mother down the aisle when she got married since my grandparents died a few months before their wedding. A plague had come through the area, and my parents barely survived. And then they had me, and, well...I expect that you know the rest."

"Hm...what was your childhood like? Before your parents...well, you know." Jester grabbed a cookie and began eating it avoid saying anything worse.

Caleb smiled reassuringly and shrugged. "Well, it was somewhat normal. I was tutored privately in various subjects. Art, music, dancing, politics, history, languages. I realized I had an interest in magic when I was young, and my parents encouraged that. I went to Soltryce Academy when I was a teenager. I attended with my friends, Eodwulf and Astrid. You will likely meet them at the wedding. We’re still fairly close. They’re both from just outside Blumenthal, but they’ve moved a while ago. Wulf just got married to the youngest member of the Clay family, the ones who make that fancy tea?”

“Oh, the dead people tea family!” Jester smiled, not really caring about her informal language. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them. I think I met one of them during my first ball last year. It was Caduceus, right?”

Caleb nodded. “Ja, that is him.”

“Yeah, he’s very nice. We talked a little about the Wildmother.”

“Mmhm.”

“Were you at my first ball? I can’t remember if I’ve seen you before.” Jester tapped the side of her teacup idly.

“Probably not.” He took another sip of tea. “I am not exactly the most...sociable.”

“What do you mean?” Jester tilted her head. “You don’t like going to parties?”

“Nein. I, uh...am often more focused on studies. I will go to the ones I am expected to go to, but if it is too far away or not that important, I will not go.”

“Oh.” Jester nodded gravely.

Caleb froze a little, suddenly tense and gripping his teacup tightly. “I mean, ah, if we were to get married, I would go to whatever parties you wanted. I do not mind it so terribly, I just find them to be a bit exhausting. I am, oh, what is the word...an introvert by nature. I tend to spend more time reading than talking to people.” Then he got the same nervous look he’d gotten before. “I mean, if you were to marry me, I would stop doing that as much. I just...I tend to get stuck in my books.”

“Oh, okay.” Jester smiled reassuringly. “I mean, I love going out to parties, but I can see why that would be tiring.”

“Ja. And I do not blame you for wanting to be social. This is your first proper year of being in society. I can see why you would want to spend a lot of time going to parties. That just is not me, and I do not blame you for finding that to be a large flaw.”

“No, no, it’s fine! I mean, I don’t mind it so much. I know being married means you give up a lot of stuff anyway.”

The room froze for a moment. Marion gave Caleb a significant look, raising her eyebrows as she waited for the response. Caleb set aside his tea, looking at Jester deeply. She realized that it was the first time that he had properly looked her in the eyes. “I would never expect you to hide away from the world just because I happen to be a bit awkward around people. You are too full of life for that. I would never expect you to give up something so important to you just because you are marrying me. Socializing is hard for me, ja, but I would gladly do it if it meant making you happy.”

Jester froze in place, a bit surprised by all of this. No one, out of any of the suitors, offered that much. Fjord was nice and very gentlemanlike, Molly was fun and friendly, and Beau was very honest and forthcoming, but no one made an offer like that to her. No one said they were willing to change so much to make her happy. She looked at her mom, who gave her an approving nod, and said, setting her tea on the table, head up and face serious, “Alright. I will marry you.”

For a moment, Caleb paused, like he honestly wasn’t expecting that to work. Then he said, “You...you don’t have to.”

“Well, I want to. My mother approves of you a lot, much more than any of the others I’ve met with, you and I are a very good match, and you’ve demonstrated more care to me than I’ve ever received from my other suitors. I will gladly marry you.”

“I mean...of course I would treat you nicely. You deserve it, being as kind and accomplished and attract--” He blushed again, not as ferociously as before, but enough to be clear. “...and as beautiful as you are. But that doesn’t mean you have to choose me. I have plenty of flaws. I doubt they outweigh the benefits.”

Jester leaned forward, violet eyes burrowing into Caleb’s sky blues ones. “Tell me, then.”

Marion mumbled something about needing to powder her nose and hurried out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Caleb leaned back and took off his coat, then rolled up the arms of his shirt, taking off the gloves Jester had only just noticed.

His arms, from fingertip to elbow, were covered in burns.

“This is from the fire that killed my parents.” Caleb’s voice and hands shook. “I was sixteen. I let a candle burn at my desk and then knocked it over when I fell asleep. I had a stack of papers nearby. I should’ve known better. My parents heard my screams, but the study was already ablaze, and I was badly burned. They dragged me out, but it took seconds,” he snapped his fingers, “for the old building to begin to burn. My parents got me outside but went back in to help get some of the servants out. They told me to go looking for help. So I ran into town. It is about five miles from here to there, and I was barefoot. By the time I got there, I was about to pass out from the pain. Only a handful of people were awake, and most of them were so drunk and useless they couldn’t even understand what I said. Then I collapsed from the pain. When I awoke, I was at the home of an old woman, a local healer, with bandages covering my arms and hands. She told me that the house was destroyed, and my parents had died, along with everyone else in the house. Why or how they were not able to escape, they could not say. My home was little more than ash. I had nothing to bury.” His voice cracked at this, and tears filled his eyes. “I still have nightmares. I still can’t even look at a flame without panic rising in my stomach. I was forced to leave Soltryce for five years. My friends all graduated before me while I had to rebuild this home piece by piece. That’s why I’m so intensely involved in my studies. I have spent the last seventeen years researching fireproofing spells so that nothing could destroy everything I loved again. And that is why you make me so nervous.” He wiped his eyes and cheeks with his hand. “I’m afraid that if I open myself up to care for someone again, I will lose you. Something will happen that will take you from me. I’ve gotten better now, which is why I’ve taken your mother’s offer to talk to you, but I cannot guarantee that those feelings will ever go away. And the last thing I would ever want for someone as young as you are is for you to feel trapped because of someone’s paranoia. Because I was trapped by my own fears, and in a way, I still am.”

Jester sat there, unsure of what to say. But then she stood, silently, and moved to Caleb’s side, placing her hand gently on his back.

As soon as she did, Caleb buried his head in his hands and cried. Not loudly. He just wept, with only a shuddery breath indicating his sobs. And Jester just sat there and let him cry. She felt her heart tug at his pain. She couldn’t imagine living through that, suddenly waking up with nothing, all her family dead, her home destroyed, and everything she held dear gone. It must’ve been awful. And she could do was sit there, rubbing his back softly. She wanted to hug him, kiss him on the cheek, say everything was okay. But Jester didn’t know if he wanted that. And even if he did, if someone other than her mother saw the two of them like that, before they were even married? What would happen? As little as she cared about her reputation, she always got worried when she damaged someone else’s. She’d hate it if Caleb got in trouble because she made a move on him.

So she just sat there, feeling powerless and useless.

After a few minutes, Caleb sat up, wiping the tears from his face. “I am sorry, Jester. I should not have cried in front of you like that. It was not proper for me to do so.”

“It’s okay,” Jester said, hand dropping to her lap. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me.”

“I can understand why you would not want to marry me after this.”

Jester shook her head. “No. Why would I hold that against you? This just told me you are a brave, kind person who wants to make the world a better place after something bad happened to you. So what if you have nightmares and fears? A lot of people do. I mean, one of my other suitors would cough up saltwater in his sleep!” That brought out a slight chuckle from Caleb. “This does not make me want to marry you any less. I will gladly marry you still.”

“You want to yoke yourself to someone like me?” He looked at her again, and his eyes were such a brilliant blue after the tears that Jester could feel the blush rising in her cheeks again.

“Yes, I do.”

They sat there for a moment, just looking into each other’s eyes. Jester could feel a connection between them, like a string pulling them together, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to kiss this pretty, sad man with the gorgeous eyes and the soft smile and the lovely auburn hair…

But then they turned away, a blush creeping on their cheeks, hands fidgeting in their lap. Caleb mumbled, “Let me get dressed and you can call your mother in, ja?”

Jester nodded. “Okay.” She got up and went to the door of the sitting room, waiting for Caleb to roll up his sleeves, put on his gloves and his coat, and give her a nod. Then she opened the door. Her mother was sitting in a seat across the hall, but Jester could tell that she had probably been listening in on their conversation.

Marion got up and approached her daughter. “So. Did everything go okay?”

“Yeah, marriage is still on. We just had a little...discussion about his past.”

With a nod, Marion came back into the room and sat back down. When Jester went to sit, instead of moving to her original seat, she sat on the couch next to Caleb again, not touching him, but remaining close. Marion’s eyebrows rose for a moment, but then settled as she said, “So. I assume that now is the time to discuss the details of the wedding. First and foremost, since you are the higher-ranked of the two, and Jester will be living with you after the wedding, I assume we will be having the wedding in Dwendali?”

“I do not mind where we hold the wedding, but if we were to hold one in the Empire, I would prefer to have it held at my home.”

“What do you think, my Little Sapphire?” Marion asked.

Jester wanted desperately to hold the wedding in Nicodranas. She wanted to be at home before she’d be sent away in a weird country with a ton of ridiculous rules and a society she neither understood nor fit in. But she also wanted to please her mother, and she didn’t want to make things hard for Caleb. “I don’t mind having the wedding here.”

Both Caleb and Marion could tell what Jester truly wanted, and she knew it. Caleb’s hand twitched towards hers, but he clenched it into a fist and said, “Are you sure? I want this to be a happy day for all of us.”

“I want to go with what fits in. I don’t really like your countries rules, but I don’t want you to be hurt because you broke them for me.” Jester looked away, a little shy.

“I do not mind breaking them either,” Caleb said. Once again, his hand moved closer to her, but again, he pulled it back.

“No. Your reputation matters a lot. You have a lot of businesses and stuff you have to take care of! I won’t let you get into trouble with other people because you made a sacrifice for me. I know people will talk if you marry me in Nicodranas.”

“They’re going to say something if he marries you at all,” chimed in Marion. “We Nicodranians already have a reputation in Dwendali, and not a savory one at that. People will talk, whether or not he marries you in Nicodranas.”

“I just…” Jester’s voice was tight and pained and nervous, and her arms wrapped around her stomach. “I don’t want to make things worse than they’ll be, Caleb. Let’s have the wedding here. It’ll be more convenient anyways.”

Caleb’s hand finally, finally moved to Jester’s, taking her warm hand in his leather-clad grip and holding tight. “Okay. We’ll have the wedding here. We can have the ceremony in the gardens and the reception in the ballroom. I also have guest rooms in a separate wing that Jester can use to get dressed in private.”

“Okay. This all sounds alright to you, Jester?” Marion asked.

Jester nodded meekly, then said, “Can I...see where everything’s going to happen?”

“Of course!” Caleb said. He got up and helped Jester to her feet. Once Jester had her hand around his arm, she found she didn’t want to let go. And, to her surprise, Caleb didn’t seem to mind either. He led the two down the hall, past several rooms, far into the north wing. He smiled at Jester before separating from her to open the double doors. The ballroom was huge, much bigger than any she’d seen, even in Nicodranas. There was a large crystal chandelier than glittered under the sunlight like a bunch of stars all clustered together, and the walls and ceiling were painted with all sorts of mythical figures. The only problem was that it was a bit dusty, clearly not recently used. “Sorry that it is not the cleanest it has been before, but I promise that by the wedding comes around it will be immaculate.”

With a grin, Jester walked out into the room, a smile coming onto her face. “It’s beautiful, Caleb!”

“We also have tables we can bring in for all the guests, as well as room to dance. I know a few skilled bards who can play some Nicodranian songs.”

“Oh, you’d do that for me?” Jester smiled at Caleb warmly. “Thank you, Caleb.”

Caleb approached her with a kind look in his eyes. “You are already making a great sacrifice for me. I shall do my best to bring home to you. Now shall we go see the gardens? I have a lovely little area that will do very nicely for a wedding.”

“Yes!” Jester nodded eagerly. They left the room and Caleb closed the doors behind them. Then Caleb offered up his arm to Jester, and she gladly took it as he took them to the gardens.

The gardens were even lovelier up close than from a distance. There were dozens of different flowers along the pathway that they walked, and every so often they were statues of legendary heroes of ages long past. Finally, at the heart of the gardens, was a white wooden gazebo, surrounded by stone benches. Caleb smiled warmly. “This place is the only part of my home that survived the fire. It’s where my mother and father were married. I had never quite believed I could continue the tradition, but…” He looked down at Jester, eyes locking with hers. “...here I am.”

Jester smiled. “It’s beautiful.” She looked around at the gazebo itself. It was carved with flowers and little cherubs with horns and nymphs with long flowing hair dancing along the floor. The benches surrounding it were plain and weathered, but still lovely, and the whole area was surrounded by rose bushes of every color.

“What kind of cleric will be performing the ceremony?” Marion asked, breaking the silence.

With a sharp intake of breath, Caleb froze, turning towards her. A sad look struck his face and he sighed and said, “Probably a cleric of Pelor.”

With that, Jester’s heart sank again. There were very few clerics of the Traveler, she knew, and the worship of him was banned outright in the Dwendalian Empire. But it still stung that she wouldn’t be able to be married under her own god. She looked down at the ground, tail wilting. She felt Caleb and Marion’s eyes on her.

Caleb lifted Jester’s chin softly, directing her eyes towards him. The pretty violet was now watery with tears. “Kleiner Saphir,” he muttered, “what is wrong?”

Jester was about to lie, to say that it was nothing. But it wasn’t, and he ought to know. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “I follow an illegal god, Caleb. I worship the Traveler. And I always hoped I could at least honor him at my wedding. But now I’ll have to hide him forever.”

Without hesitation, Caleb pressed a kiss into her forehead and took her arm, a bit oddly emboldened. He then turned to Marion and asked, “May I show your daughter something? It’s a bit of a secret, but it will help with things, I promise.”

Marion made an odd face, taking a moment to look him up and down, and said, “I trust you won’t get into trouble. Go ahead, by all means.”

“Danke,” said Caleb as he led Jester back through the gardens and into the manor, then up a huge staircase to the highest floor.

“Where are you taking me?” Jester asked, still a little shaken by the sorrow and the sudden change of pace.

“It’s a surprise. Trust me, Jester, it will make you much happier.” Caleb grinned down at her and led her down the hall. He opened a door at the end, which opened into another stairway, dimmer and closed off than the other. They had to go one at a time, still holding hands, as Caleb brought her to a door at the top of the stairs. Caleb pressed against the wall so she could see. “This door leads to my most precious secret. If it is discovered, I could be severely punished. But I trust you enough to show it to you. If you are willing to reveal your religion, I will reveal mine. It can only be opened by me and by Veth right now. Once we get married, I’ll show you how to open this door, okay?”

Jester nodded.

Caleb turned and pressed against the door, right above the knob. He muttered something -- it sounded Zemnian, but she couldn’t tell for sure -- and the wood glowed orange, and the door unlocked with a click. Jester’s eyes widened in amazement, and Caleb led her inside.

Inside the room was a large attic space with a large skylight. And covered about a quarter of this room were symbols of the Archeart. Crosses of all sorts with two crescent moons hung from the walls and along the windows. Small statues dotted a table, and there was a leather-bound book written in elven with a simple holy symbol laying on one of the pages. No doubt a holy text of some sort. 

“This place I made in honor of my parents. They used to be followers of Pelor, like most residents of Blumenthal, but Archduke Haselberger was an elf, and he was a secret follower of Corellon, the Archeart. Thanks to him, my mother converted, and my father shortly thereafter. They credited their faith as the only reason they survived the plague that killed their families. I wasn’t much of a believer until after I rebuilt this home. I went out of the country and bought a symbol of the Archeart.” He took the symbol from the book. It was of humble metal, a bit jagged, clearly formed by someone without much experience in metalworking. “I had bought it merely to honor my parents since I did not have much faith after the fire. I held it in my hand when I fell asleep when I first got it. That night, I dreamed of the Archeart. They told me my parents were safe in the afterlife, and that they were proud of me.”

“Your parents or the Archeart?” Jester asked.

“Both. The Archeart said my parents were proud of me, then they said that they were proud of me, too. The manor was almost finished, and I was going to go back to school. And ever since, I’ve been a secret believer of a sort.” He replaced the symbol and sighed, then turned to the empty parts of the attic. “My parents always left room for their family. In case I had another faith, or in case I married someone who did not worship Corellon, or took in someone who followed a different religion. That way, they always had a safe place to practice their faith.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “This is a safe place for you, too. You can bring all your holy symbols and texts here, and we can hang them up and even get some more if you’d like. If you are going to be in this home, I want you to be able to do everything you want to do as safely as possible. Okay?”

Jester nodded, wiping her tears from her eyes. She hurried over and hugged Caleb tightly. At first, he seemed surprised, but he quickly returned the gesture. They stood there for a moment, happily holding each other close. Without entirely realizing it, Jester started purring. She only really did it with her mother before, when she was really little. As soon as she did, Caleb stepped back, blinking in surprise. “What was that?” he asked, confused.

“Oh, sorry!” Jester said, stepping away, realizing her impropriety. “I do that sometimes. I should’ve warned you.”

“What is it, though?” Caleb asked, his head cocked. He reached out, as though he wanted to feel it again, but pulled away.

“You didn’t know? Tieflings purr sometimes. Mostly when they’re very comfortable and safe. I heard that firbolgs do it too, but I haven’t been able to ask, yet.”

“Ah. I see.”

With a mischievous smile, Jester said, “I can show you more after our honeymoon…” She crept closer, tail weaving in the air like a cat’s.

Once again, Caleb turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. “Uh...we should probably get back to your mother. She might be thinking we are getting into trouble.” Without saying anything more, he opened the door and let her out, locking it behind them with a different Zemnian saying. The wood glowed orange, then the light faded away. When he led her down, he did not take her hand, did not look back at her with a smile, did not do anything except lead her back. The whole way to the gardens, Jester felt like she’d swallowed a cannonball. She must have messed up. He probably thought of her as some Nicodranian whore trying to get to his rank or his purse or his bed. She simmered in guilt. Her mother had warned her that he was shy about these things, and now she’d clearly pushed it too far. But then when they approached the gardens, she shyly took his hand again, if only to look like the happy couple once again. She put on a happy smile when they returned to her mother, trying to act like she didn’t fuck everything up.

“What was that all about?” Marion asked as she got up from one of the benches, head cocked.

“Ah, it was nothing. I just wanted to show Jester something that would make living with me more bearable.” Caleb grinned reassuringly.

Marion looked him up and down once again, then Jester. She narrowed her eyes at her daughter but didn’t push. “Alright. Shall we go back inside?”

“Ja, let us do that,” Caleb said. He squeezed Jester’s hand on his arm as he led everyone back inside. 

On the way back, as they casually walked down the winding garden path, Marion and Caleb talked about the particulars of the wedding: the food, the guests, the clothes. Caleb was very generous, offering to pay for Marion’s chef to come to cook Nicodranian dishes for the banquet, letting her and Jester invite as many guests as they wanted (to a point, of course, but still), and even agreed to wear a cravat made from a Nicodranian fabric. Marion, in turn, agreed to tone down the traditional wedding clothes that were common in Nicodranas. (Jester briefly imagined the shock and horror of all the Dwendalian guests if she wore a sheer, bright pink, low cut dress to her wedding, and tried to hold back her giggles.) In addition, she agreed to have a traditionally Dwendalian ceremony, so long as they kept the tradition of the couple feeding each other the first bite of the banquet, sharing the first dance of the wedding, and the Nicodranian Exit. The poor man did not know what that was when he agreed to it. Marion politely informed him that she and anyone Caleb considered family would kiss the couple goodbye and give them a traditional speech (she skipped over the fact that the final line was “may your love-making be as fruitful as summer wine”, but it was probably a good idea not to give the man a heart attack) and then the stronger of the two would carry the other out of the banquet room and into their room, where they would stay for a month-long honeymoon.

“A month?” Caleb’s eyes went wide.

“Yes. That is the typical length of a honeymoon, at least amongst the rich. Some wealthy and foolish people have honeymoons that last much longer than that, though most people who aren’t that wealthy take a week, tops. It all depends on your rank, status, and all that.” Marion shrugged. “If you wanted to do something shorter, that would be fine.”

“Oh, no, that’ll be fine. I needed a break from my work anyway.” Caleb’s voice sounded strained and nervous. Jester wanted to melt at the idea. At this point, they were going to drive each other crazy.

They arrived back inside, and Jester asked if she could use the restroom. Caleb nodded and pointed her to the bathroom. “We’ll be in the parlor, okay? Feel free to ask a servant for help, if you’d like.”

“Okay,” Jester said. Caleb squeezed her hand before letting her go and heading towards the parlor. Jester followed his directions to a small bathroom. Wow, the place was tiny. Jester did her thing, washed her hands, taking her time. She dreaded being with him now, feeling a mix of regret and fear and sadness. She thought things were going great, and then she messed it all up and it was all going to fall apart. And of course, knowing her luck, her mom had to suggest a month-long honeymoon! This was not going to end well. Jester managed not to break down and cry, but she was still intensely worried about how well things were going to go. She left the bathroom, then tried to remember how to get back to the parlor. But in between her nerves and the fact that they’d re-entered the mansion in a different place, she had no idea where she was going. A tan-skinned halfling woman she recognized from the line of servants came by, and Jester said, “Excuse me, but can you direct me to the parlor?”

The woman looked up and nodded. “Oh, certainly! Let me take you there.” She had a sweet voice, a little strained though, as though she wasn’t quite used to it. She led her down the hall and turned down another hallway.

“I’m Jester, by the way,” Jester said, stopping to extend her hand.

“Oh! Yes. I’m Veth Brenatto. I’m the head housekeeper here.” Veth shook her hand, bowing a little, but then suddenly stopping and curtsying instead.

“You’re the one my mom mentioned!” Jester said, nodding. 

“Yes, that’s me.” Veth put her hand in her apron pocket. “She’s a very nice lady.”

“Yeah, she really is.” Jester smiled. “It sounded like from what I heard you know him really well.”

Veth nodded as she started continuing to lead Jester to the parlor. “Yeah. We’re really close. I take care of him a lot.”

“I could tell.” Jester looked down the hallway. Now that she was here, she knew where she was going, but she didn’t want to stop talking to Veth. “May I talk to you for a second about him? I think I might’ve messed up and I need your advice.”

“Okay.” The two sat down on a bench in the hall, with a bit of distance between them and the parlor. “What do you need help with?”

Jester finally let herself groan into her hands. “I think I messed everything up.”

“What happened?” Veth placed a hand on her shoulder carefully.

“Well…” Jester sat up and breathed in deeply. “I was really sad about something, so Caleb took me to his secret room,” she whispered the last two words, hoping she’d get it, “and then I was really happy so I hugged him and I purred a little, because tieflings do that when they feel safe around people, and Caleb was surprised by it, and I said ‘I can show you more on our honeymoon,’ and I wasn’t even, like, super flirty with him, but then he just turned off and acted all cold to me and wouldn’t really talk to me. I’m just afraid I accidentally went too far.”

Veth nodded, understanding. “Well, I think your main problem is that he’s very nervous around stuff like that.”

“I already got that idea! And I realize that you Dwendalians aren’t as comfortable around sex as us Nicodranians are and that he has a lack of experience and all that. I just want to know if I can fix it.”

“Hm...Maybe just keep on taking things slow. Talk to him before the wedding if you can, or at least before the honeymoon. Oh!” She sat up and squeezed Jester’s arm, smiling with a realization. “In Dwendali, we have a tradition for weddings. The people getting married write each other a letter that is to be read in private before the wedding. It’s a big thing where you pour out your feelings, tell the other person, or sometimes people, why you want to marry them. You can do that! Tell him you’re okay with his inexperience, and that you don’t mind taking baby steps with him.”

“Okay, okay. I will start writing the letter as soon as I get home, and I’ll make sure we talk before everything happens.” Jester smiled, feeling a lot more optimistic now. “Thank you very much! You’ve been very helpful. It’ll be a big comfort knowing you’ll be here with us.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I just wanna see Caleb happy.” Veth got up from the bench, and Jester followed her lead. “I hope to talk to you more. You seem very nice.”

“Thank you! You seem very sweet, too. It was so nice meeting you, Veth!” Jester smiled and headed towards the parlor.

Veth nodded, waved goodbye, and said, “It was nice meeting you, too!”

Jester opened the door and slipped into the parlor. Her mother and Caleb had a piece of parchment out with both of their handwriting on it. Caleb looked up and grinned at a little at Jester. “Ah, Jester. We were just figuring out the guest list. Would you like to see what we have so far?”

“That would be nice. I don’t think I’d like to be surprised.” Jester sat down next to Caleb and looked over the list. She recognized some of the names -- several people from Nicodranas, the Lionetts, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Fjord Tusktooth. Jester stopped on the latter. It was written in her mother’s neat cursive, but it had a comment next to it in Caleb’s handwriting, which was tighter and stiffer and harder to read. Finally, Jester deciphered it. “Fjord Tusktooth and fiancee?”

“Ja,” nodded Caleb. “He got engaged, but I do not remember his betrothed’s name. The wedding is happening sometime this summer, towards the end, I think.”

“Already?” Jester made a face. “But I was talking to him about getting married last winter and he said he wasn’t dating anyone then! How’d he get engaged that fast?”

Caleb shrugged, but Marion just smiled and leaned in close to the two of them and said, “If I were a betting woman, I’d bet that the whole thing was unplanned to make room for a certain surprise. We’ll have to do the math at the end of the whole thing to make sure.”

Jester giggled at the idea. Meanwhile, Caleb just looked confused. “I do not understand. How do you accidentally get engaged? What do you mean by ‘surprise’? And why would we have to do math?”

Marion and Jester shared a look that said, “He is much worse than we thought,” then Jester whispered into Caleb’s ear, “She means she thinks he got someone pregnant and that’s why they’re getting married.”

Caleb’s eyes went wide and he muttered something under his breath to the effect of, “You Nicodranians and your hypotheses,” before returning to the list. “Everything else to your liking?”

Jester read over the rest of it, getting more acquainted with Caleb’s handwriting. He added a handful of Dwendalian people she did not recognize, The Clays, including spouses, and Archmage Astrid Pfefferburg (Jester had to hide her snickering for that last one.) Aside from the Clays -- thank the gods he was limiting it to just the spouses and not the children, or else the whole banquet would’ve been overtaken by them all -- he wasn’t really demanding all that much. “You didn’t add a lot of people to your list,” said Jester, a bit surprised.

“Well, I did add some,” protested Caleb.

“Yeah, but not a lot.” She set down the list, then playfully nudged him. “I’ll have to introduce you to all of my friends, then. I’m sure you’ll get along great with them.”

Caleb just nodded a bit awkwardly. 

There were a few other minor details, decorations, how the invitations would look, et cetera. Then they finally settled on a date. A week after the first day of summer. Enough to give them time to prepare, but soon enough that they could still have their honeymoon before Fjord’s wedding. By now, it was getting late. Jester had forgotten she had only eaten one cookie the whole she was here until her stomach started growling, and someone had already taken away the food that was left out for tea. Caleb muttered something about dinner and took out a piece of copper wire, saying after he cast a spell, “Veth, this is Caleb, I am asking if dinner is ready, you can reply to this message.” After a moment, he appeared to have gotten a reply, as he nodded and got up, offering his arm to Jester as he said, “Dinner is ready. I will lead you to the dining room.”

Jester eagerly took his arm as he led the way to the dining room. She had expected something on the inside of the house, walled off and cramped, but the dining room here was not only spacious, but one wall of the room had a series of tall, wide windows that opened towards the gardens. The sight brought a wide grin to Jester’s face. It was absolutely lovely, and the big windows reminded her of home.

Caleb pulled out the chair of Marion first, seating her to the left side of the head of the table, then pulled the chair out for Jester on the opposite side before finally seating himself. When he sat, he took Jester’s hand in his. The act was surprising, but not unwelcome. She squeezed his hand back and shared a smile with him.

Dinner came, Caleb did not let go of Jester, and instead took the fork and ate with his left hand. “Oh, you’re left-handed?” Jester asked.

“I am ambidextrous. I tend to use my right hand more while in front of others, but I tend to practice with my left a lot when I am alone.”

Jester nodded and giggled. “I’m sure you do.” Marion shot her a glare but said nothing.

After a momentary silence, Caleb asked, “So, Jester, what kind of things do you like to do?”

“Well, I draw and paint a lot. I have an easel and paints in my room that I’ll bring when I move here after we’re married. And I have a sketchbook that I take with me whenever I travel.”

“Anything else?”

After a moment’s thought, Jester said, “I know how to play the piano and sing a little. Mama taught me, but I’m not as good as her.”

“Oh, please, Jester, don’t feel the need to be so humble. You have a lovely voice.” Marion smiled at her daughter.

“I’m still not as good as you,” Jester retorted. “What about you, Caleb? What do you do?”

Caleb shrugged. “Other than taking care of business and working on my magic? Not much. I read a lot, I suppose.”

“Ah.” Jester nodded. “You have a lot of books?”

“Oh, ja. I have a fairly large library. Nothing spectacular, but fairly varied. I have lots of books on Nicodranian culture, even a few books of folk tales and the like, though I will admit that beyond that, my library is lacking in terms of Nicodranian literature.”

Jester giggled. “I’ll have to bring some.” The pinnacle of Nicodranian culture was poetry and song, but Jester had a fairly diverse collection of some of the less classy forms of Nicodranian storytelling. A few smutty novels came to mind that would be very funny if they were perched on Caleb’s shelf in between the proper Dwendalian literature that was all stiff writing and no fun.

“Ja, that would be nice. Besides, I want you to be able to find things that appeal to you. I would hate for you to having nothing to do while I am busy working or out of my home tending to the businesses I own.”

“What kind of businesses?” Jester asked, cocking her head.

“Well, I technically own many shops in Blumenthal, Rexxentrum, and Zadash, though they are all run by other people. I mostly just come in to check in on the business, see how it is doing, what profits are like, develop ideas on what products and things would better the business. It really is not that special; the managers and employees do the hard work. I just make sure everything is making money.”

“Ah, I see." Jester poked at her beef, then looked up. "Do you have any pets?"

Caleb lit up a little. "Ja, I have a familiar. He mostly takes the form of a cat. His name is Frumpkin."

Jester grinned. "What kind of cat is he?"

"Just a ginger cat. Very fluffy. He helps me calm down when I'm nervous. Do you have any pets?"

"Yep! I have a pet weasel named Sprinkles and a blink dog named Nugget."

“A blink dog? What is that?” Caleb cocked his head, interested.

“Oh! It’s like a normal dog, but he teleports! I’ve trained him to do it on command now. He only ever does it when I tell him to. But you should’ve seen him as a puppy. He would always blink around whenever he got excited. One time, he teleported on top of a shelf in my room somehow, and we had to get one of our butlers who was really tall to get him down. It was very funny.”

Marion sighed. "It was very funny. Though sometimes he drove us all crazy."

"Yeah. Luckily I was home all the time, or else he would've torn our home apart. But don't worry, he's a very good boy now." Jester squeezed Caleb's hand.

“Ja, that is definitely reassuring. I would hate to have a less trained dog with those sorts of abilities suddenly have to move to a completely different home.” Caleb nodded as he ate.

“Yes, especially since you two will be...preoccupied,” Marion chimed in. Caleb’s cheeks once again grew ruby red.

Jester rolled her eyes. “I mean, we won’t be that busy, Mama.” Then she turned to Caleb and said, “Look, you’re nice, but I hope you don’t expect me to give up spending time with my dog for you.”

Caleb smiled a little. “Ja. I would hope you do not do the same with me and my cat.”

“Of course! I mean, I’ve heard of a lot of…” Jester took a moment to pick her words. “...mean people who basically take over their spouse’s life so they can get all their attention. I wouldn’t be able to stand that kind of person. And if I ever become that person, you have my full permission to sit me down and tell me to stop.”

“As with me.” Caleb rubbed her hand as he looked into her eyes for a moment. Then he looked down at his food and added, “But I will try to give you space. I do not want to smother you while you’re adjusting.”

“I mean, some sorts of smothering is fun…” Jester joked.

Marion choked a little on her food while Caleb made another confused face, saying nothing more.

After a moment, Jester sat up and said, in her more serious tone, “I am willing to go at whatever pace you need, Caleb.”

Caleb nodded. “Thank you. And I, you. I want you to be comfortable in this home. I want you to be comfortable with me.” He squeezed her hand one more time then pulled away.

They finished dinner in relative silence. Afterward, Marion fake-yawned and said, “Well, I ought to head up to bed. I assume your staff has brought up our things to some of the guest rooms.”

“Oh, ja! Let me show you.” Caleb stood as servants took away the dishes, then he led them to their rooms, two simple, but well-furnished guest rooms with fireplaces and freshly-made beds and not a speck of dust in sight. Their trunks were at the foot of their beds. “Jester, this won’t be your room when you stay here. While we’re making arrangements for the wedding, I plan to set up your space for you.”

Jester smiled. “Oh, thank you, Caleb, you’re so sweet.” After a moment’s hesitation, she stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s for being so nice to me.” Caleb blushed considerably, but the look on his face wasn’t as intensely nervous. Just very shy. He looked down on the floor and smiled a little. Jester cupped his cheek gently, the same cheek she had kissed, as she lifted up his chin so she could look him in the eyes. “Seriously, Caleb. You are the nicest suitor I’ve met so far. I am very grateful for it.”

Caleb’s smile returned for a moment, then faded and grew sad. “I do not deserve it, schatzie. Truly.”

“Well, whether you think you deserve it or not, I’m giving it to you. Okay?” She patted his cheek again went into her room, closing the door behind her.


	2. chapter two

Jester had a dream about Caleb that night.

She didn’t know anything about the context really. She just knew she and Caleb were walking together at night. He was in just a shirt and trousers and boots, no cravat or waistcoat or jacket. She was in one of her fine Nicodranian dresses, made of soft pink silk with lace at the edges, the kind that would’ve been too risque for the public but was perfect for a nice cool night. He must’ve cast Dancing Lights because a cluster of glowing balls surrounded them, casting a soft blue-green light that followed them as they went. They talked, but about what, she couldn’t remember. But they laughed, and gods, his laugh. It was infectious. It was wine and honey and pastries but like really good pastries, the kind that melted in your mouth and had lots of spices in it. It was warm and soft and smooth and she wanted to hear it again, wanted to make him laugh for the rest of her life.

And yeah, she could.

They held hands as they traversed the gardens. As their walk wore on, Jester pressed more and more against him, smiling up at him as they shared silly jokes and stories. His smile was somehow even better than his laughter. It was a full smile, a true smile, a happy grin without reservations or sadness to bring down the corners of his mouth. His eyes crinkled softly behind his glasses, and he looked so, so handsome. Every so often, they’d stop at some especially lovely bit of the gardens, a place where there was a nice stone fountain, a spot with a statue, an area that was all crowded flowers that smelled divine. They’d look around them, up at the stars. And they’d kiss. And his lips were soft and his breath tasted sweet and it made Jester feel all melty and warm on the inside.

“We should probably head inside,” he said softly after who knows how long. “It is getting late.” He patted her hand gently and leaned in for another kiss. She thought it was going to be soft and sweet and slow and innocent, just like the rest, but this one had a spark of intensity behind it, a soft flare. “I have plans for you tonight.” Gods, his voice was low and rough and the hottest thing Jester had ever fucking heard. All she could do was smile and nod and kiss him back, hoping to convey her excitement through the connection.

They hurried back -- not running, she was wearing shoes with a slight heel to them, and the last time she ran in them she broke her ankle and had to use all her healing spells to fix it. But then they arrived inside. Caleb let the magical lights around them dim to nothing as they entered the shadowy, candlelit hallway. They dashed up to their room in a flash, and soon, Caleb was undressing Jester in front of a full-body mirror, letting her watch as he undid the hooks of her dress and let it fall. He moaned a little as he saw her in her undergarments. “You are so gorgeous, my dear.” Caleb kissed the back of her head as he ran his fingers over her upper arms, feeling her bare skin.

“Thank you, Caleb,” Jester said, softly. She reached over and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it tightly. Then she looked up, grinned with her usual troublemaking smile, and teased, “Now why don’t you take the rest of my clothes off so you can ogle me properly?”

Caleb smiled and laughed a little as he loosened her corset, took off her drawers. Everything pooled around her feet, and now she was naked before him. He growled softly as he kissed her temple, cheek, jaw, then the curve of her neck. She giggled a little, a bit ticklish as he began to nip and suck at her skin. Jester moaned softly at the attention. His hands shifted to her waist, touching the rolls of fat there with soft fingertips. She whimpered his name as one hand drifted lower, lower, lower, until--

Jester’s eyelashes fluttered up. She was tucked into a strange, empty bed, alone and unwed and so very fucking horny. For a moment she sighed and muttered, “Damn it,” rolling her eyes at fate itself. But then she looked out the window. It was still a bit early. The sun was just starting to rise. Dwendalians arose earlier than Nicodranians, sure, but this must’ve been too early. She must’ve had some time before someone came in to help her get dressed. So she relaxed, settled into the bed, and let one hand drift towards her dick.

Tieflings were interesting creatures. They didn’t technically have three sexes as humans had. Instead, they only had one. Or maybe every tiefling had their own individual sex. Or maybe there were thousands of sexes, to the point that it was impossible to categorize them accurately. Either way, what mattered was that Jester had both a penis and a vagina. Her dick wasn’t super big, and she doubted her cunt wasn’t much to write home about either, but what mattered to most people was that she could both make other people pregnant and get pregnant herself. It was pretty cool. But that didn’t really matter now. What mattered was that her hand was on her dick, and she was wanting.

Now, Jester didn’t know if anyone was up and about yet. The only thing she really knew was that her mother was next door, but considering the fact that Marion slept like a stone after traveling, Jester wasn’t really worried that anyone would hear. But still, best she be at least a little quiet.

She focused on the idea of Caleb and her in bed together. Them being naked at first, just kissing, skin against skin, his body warm against hers. She imagined him getting harder as he pressed against her. Now, while she’d been taught plenty, from a mix of her mother, some instructional manuals, and a lot of smut, she had never been with anyone, much less someone who wasn’t a tiefling. It wasn’t so much a lack of desire for her as it was a lack of opportunity. Jester was pretty secluded most of her life, kept inside with tutors and governesses and sometimes just herself. There weren’t any cute servants, no pretty neighbors, no close friends to conveniently fall for. Plus, the only people she’d ever really gotten to know were either not going to get with her or weren’t going to be with her for at least a long while, in the case of Caleb, so she just...never got the chance to get laid. So she was kind of winging it when she came to her imagination. 

So, human dick, harder, pressed against her. She didn’t know exactly how it would feel, given that she had only seen pictures of human dicks, so it was kind of weird thinking about it, but oh well. Instead, she started to focus on what else he was doing. She imagined his lips on hers, she imagined them kissing as his hands moved to her chest, massaging her breasts. His lips moved downwards to her neck as he slipped one hand to her cunt and rubbed up and down. Jester mimicked the movement, moaning more, muttering Caleb’s name.

In her mind, Caleb slipped a slender finger inside her, and she did the same. Jester thought of touching his dick as she started to finger her, trying to imagine how it feels. She’d heard that the skin was supposed to be really smooth? And that it didn’t have any ridges like hers had. Plus it had foreskin? But some people got that stuff chopped off? Her confusion was putting her out of the mood. Maybe she doesn’t touch his dick. But then what was she supposed to do with her hands? Damn it, she was getting too deep inside her head. Focus, Jester, focus, she thought.

Okay. She imagined her hand reaching for his cheek, pulling him into a kiss before breaking apart to moan. Jester slipped in another finger, picturing Caleb was slipping one in, too. She curled her fingers in a way that made her feel really good, playing with her tits. She wanted his lips all over her. She wanted him to touch her.

Slowly, Jester picked up speed. She added a third finger, then moved to play with her dick. It was a bit harder to imagine him touching her this way now, but she figured she could be touching herself as he fingered her. It wasn’t long before she started to lose all control, growing louder and louder. Sometimes she got lost in seeking her own pleasure. It was a terrible habit, but it was also one she wasn’t entirely aware of. She barely registered the footsteps coming down the hall. Jester was so close, so close, so close, and then suddenly her body contracted as she moaned Caleb’s name with a cry, spurting cum all over her stomach.

Once she calmed down, Jester noticed the boots in front of her door that could be just barely seen through the crack underneath. They were Caleb’s boots. In a moment she was torn between mortification and hilarious laughter. So much for taking things slow, she thought. The boots walked away, and Jester went about getting up. A few minutes later, a note was slid under her door. Jester went over to pick it up. In Caleb’s neat, tight cursive, he had written, “Breakfast will be ready soon. I was going to wake you up but I heard you were already awake. A servant will come to help you get dressed shortly. -- Caleb Ermendrud.”

Jester snorted. Her face was burning hot from both the orgasm and the embarrassment. At least he didn’t seem to hate her for it? Hopefully? She tucked the note with her things and started getting cleaned up. At the very least, she could try to get the smell out.

A few minutes later, thankfully once everything was wiped down and smelling like her perfume, Veth came in with a grin, holding a book bound with blue fabric. “Hi. I’m here to help you get dressed. Caleb wanted to give this to you as a little engagement gift.”

“Oh!” Jester took the book. There was no title on the front or on the spine. She flipped through the pages and...they were blank. “Is it like a sketchbook?”

“Well, it’s a journal. Caleb makes them himself sometimes. This one was the first one he made. He always wanted it to go to someone special.” Veth smiled sentimentally.

“I’ll have to tell him thank you, then. It’s very sweet that he would do that for me.” Jester smiled as she fiddled with the pages, then she got an idea. “I think I know what I want to do with it.”

“What are you thinking?” Veth cocked her head.

Jester smiled. “It’s a surprise! Plus, I’m going to have to do it over our honeymoon. I won’t have the time to do it now.”

Veth looked at her with concern. “Okay...Anyways, Caleb sent me here to get you dressed?”

“Oh! Yeah, thank you.” Jester set aside her book. Veth helped Jester get dressed -- lacing up her corset was a bit of a challenge, but most Nicodranians didn’t tighten it that much anyways -- and Jester checked herself out in the mirror. The dress was a rich burgundy, fancy but not showing off as much as the first one did. It covered her shoulders and only showed a little bit of cleavage, but it was still more sheer than normal, and she still didn’t wear any stockings. When Veth got to that bit, she was clearly a bit confused, but they still rolled with it. 

After the dress was on, Jester stood before the mirror and brushed her hair while Veth watched. “You’re very pretty,” she said, almost shyly.

“Thank you!” Jester grinned. “So are you!”

Veth shook her head. “I’m okay. I’m really not that pretty. Not like you.”

Jester turned and looked down at Veth, softly petting her dark hair. “You’re beautiful, Veth.”

“Thank you,” Veth said with a soft smile. “Not many people have said that to me.”

“Well, since I’m going to be living with you, you’re going to be hearing it a lot more often.” Jester grinned and stood up. “Are you coming to the wedding? I really hope you can.”

“Of course! I’ll be bringing my whole family.” Veth grinned thinking about it. “Caleb asked me to walk him down the aisle.”

“Aw! That’s so sweet! Is that a Dwendalian tradition?” Jester sat down on the bed to talk about it, patting the space next to her so Veth could sit down.

“It’s traditional for a parent or family member to lead each person who’s getting married down the aisle. So your mother will probably lead you down the aisle. But, well...Caleb said he told you about his parents?”

“Yeah, he told me what happened yesterday. You guys must be really close then.”

“He’s like a second son to me,” Veth said, smiling.

“You have another son?” Jester raised her eyebrows.

Veth nodded. “Yeah. His name is Luc. He’s five. He mostly lives with my husband, Yeza. He owns the alchemist’s shop in Blumenthal. Caleb helped us move here and get the shop started when he first hired me.”

“Oh, that’s so cool! Where are you guys from, then? I noticed you don’t have an accent like Caleb’s.”

“Felderwin. It’s south-east of Zadash, which is where Caleb and I met. I was searching for work there because our shop had burned down after a goblin attack. I met Caleb when he was being mugged. I acted as a distraction and helped him get out of that situation. We got a few drinks after that, and I told him what I was doing there, and he hired me on the spot. His old housekeeper had retired, apparently. That was about two years ago. Ever since he’s been very helpful with my family. He even bought me a pony so I can ride into town on the weekends to see Yeza and Luc, and more than once he’s dropped everything so I can get into town during an emergency. He’s a very good man. You really can’t get anyone better.”

“Yeah. He’s really sweet. Like, Fjord and Molly were nice enough, and Beau is...Beau, but Caleb has been the nicest to me. I’m glad I picked him!” But then the recollection of what had happened this morning hit her again and she cringed, worried she may have messed things up again. But the idea of talking about masturbating to the thought of someone with that someone’s adoptive mother probably wasn’t the best of ideas in the Empire.

Someone knocked on the door. It was another servant asking for Jester to come to breakfast. Jester told them she was coming and stood up, helping Veth down. She said to Veth, “It was really nice talking to you again!” before being led back to the dining room.  
~~~~~  
Jester had expected breakfast to be awkward. Her mother wasn’t in the room yet, as she was probably getting dressed, but Caleb was sitting at the head of the table, reading from a thick book. As soon as Jester came in, he closed it, face down so she couldn’t see the cover. He stood up, bowed, and pulled out her chair for her. She sat and smiled at him. “What are you reading, Caleb?” she asked, ears perking up.

“Just a book,” Caleb said, sighing as he picked up the book and handed it to the servant who had led her there to put away. 

“I mean, yeah, but what kind of book was it?” Jester giggled. “Was it a smutty book, Caleb?”

Caleb’s ears turned bright red and he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Good morning to you, too, Jester.”

With a smile, Jester cooed, “Ooh, so it was smut.”

“My morning was good, ja,” Caleb said. “Your mother should be coming shortly. I had my chefs bring in some pastries from the bakery in Blumenthal. Your mother said you like those.”

Jester was easily distracted by the talk of sweets. “Ooh, yes! I love those! What kind do you guys have around here?”

“Well, we have typical Dwendalian pastries. Bear claws, cinnamon rolls, cupcakes. But around here we also have Kreppel, which is sort of like a jelly donut, Franzbrötchen, which have cinnamon in them, and sometimes raisins, and Spritzkuchen, which are kind of like donuts? I don’t know what the chefs are getting, though.”

“Oh, that’s so cool! We’ll have to go there once everything’s settled. Oh, and we can visit Yeza’s shop while we were there!”

“Oh, ja,” said Caleb, nodding. “I am guessing you spoke to Veth about her family?”

Jester nodded. “She’s really sweet. I like her. She said she’s bringing you down the aisle for our wedding?”

“Ja. She and I are very close. She’s been very kind to me ever since we met.” He smiled fondly.

“Veth said you’ve been really nice. It’s very sweet.” Jester smiled. “All of this is making me really excited. I’m very glad I chose you, Caleb.”

Caleb grinned. It was a soft smile, not like the big grin she’d seen in her dream. But it was something. It was really nice. But then it faded into nervousness as Caleb fiddled with the seam of his gloves. 

“Is something wrong?” Jester asked.

“Nothing,” said Caleb.

Jester leaned forward, taking one of his hands gently. He moved awkwardly, following her lead. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Ja, I am fine,” Caleb said. He hesitated before pulling away. A second after, Marion walked in. Caleb stood and pulled out a seat for her, then sat back down again. Breakfast was served, and they ate in silence. It wasn’t long until the servants were starting to pack up their things and get them ready to go. 

Caleb brought Jester to the front of the house where their carriage awaited. He said goodbye to Marion, who got in the coach, leaving Jester and Caleb mostly alone. Jester smiled up at him and took his hands in hers, tail flicking at her feet. “It was very nice meeting you, Caleb. I’m glad I chose to marry you.”

He nodded. “I am very grateful you chose me. You be safe on your ride home, ja?”

“Of course!” Jester grinned. “Oh! Also! I can send you messages! Can I do that?”

“Uh…” Caleb blushed and hesitated, but nodded. “Ja. Feel free to.”

“Okay.” Jester smiled. They paused, and Jester expected him to lean in and kiss her. Just once. 

But no. Instead, he squeezed her hands and stepped back to bow. “Goodbye, Jester. I shall see you soon.”

“Yes, of course.” Jester nodded and curtsied, then headed into the carriage and waved goodbye. As soon as he was out of sight, she sighed a little.

This marriage might be a little harder than she thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to Tea__Bee for betaing chapter one!


End file.
